THAT WAS HARD

LAST WEEK I SET A GOAL TO RIDE 20 HOURS FROM CHRISTMAS DAY TO NEW YEAR’S DAY.  I had seen the Rapha challenge 500 kilometers in the same time period.  Kilometers are a tad silly in ‘Merica, but I’d say a distance goal is even sillier.  The equivalent distance goal is about 300 miles.  For a pro, that’s 15 hours or less.  For average Joe, it’s more like 20 hours.  But if you’re a mountain biker it could be 30 hours, and if your snow bound it could be… 3 months ’till you ride outside again.

Hours are so much better.

20 hours, however, turned out to be pretty darn hard.  That’s about double what I’ve been riding.

What did it take?

First, it took a ton of time… obviously, but it’s less obvious than you think if you’re already busy.  I already work hard to carve out my ten hours.  The only way it worked is it was a light week work-wise.

It took commitment.  There were days I didn’t want to do the time.  Thursday was particularly hard, I just looked at my mountain bike arguing with myself for an hour on whether or not to go.  At that point I’d ridden 8 hours from Mon-Wed and I was tired.  But, today, New Year’s Day, was the hardest.  I was really sick of riding having ridden 18.5 hours from Mon-Sat.  To make up for spousal neglect,  I’d promised Surfergirl to take her paddle boarding first thing… we paddled 6 miles in 2 hours… heading out for the last 90 minutes of bike time was dreadful.

It required a singular focus for the week.  No time for lifting weights, which I really missed.  No time for TV.  No time for surf… and there were some good days.  No time for resting.

What did I learn?

I learned I could do the Swami’s Wednesday ride no problem even with nearly 7 hours the previous 2 days.  I learned the Bus Stop ride is a fun ride in Newport.  I learned 20 hours is too many hours in a week for me.  Even though I made every effort to ride easy it was still very tiring.  Mainly, I learned I prefer 10-12 hours.

Did I lose any weight?  Nope.  Woke up heavier today than last Monday.  NYE!

What did I gain?

Well, I’m not entirely sure.  That’s why I’m going to have to deconstruct the week with Coach Paul… stay tuned for that.

(the pic up there… that’s my shadow, about all that was left of my passion for 2 wheels.)